Two youths were arrested on Monday for the rape of a woman in a forest less then a month ago after police undertook a rigorous search aided by posters of the culprits printed on the basis of sketches prepared after referring to over 100 photographs of suspects.
Seraikela-Kharsawan SP Mohammed Arshi told the media that the two, who were arrested on Monday morning, had changed their hairstyle and shaved their beard after the posters were circulated.
Arshi said the two _ Budhe Kalindi (26) and Dinesh Behera (25) _ were caught after local residents identified them from the bike they used to forcefully transport the 21-year-old woman before raping her on January 12.
The SP said that both Kalindi and Behera confessed their crime which was committed at a forest stretch near Pindrabera village under Chandil thana.
Arshi said the incident took place at 8pm when the woman, a resident of Pather Salem village in Kandra, was returning home on her scooter. Kalindi and Behera followed her on their bike and intercepted her at an isolated spot.
They then forced her on to their bike and took her to the nearby forests where they took turns to rape her.
"As there was no CCTV footage, there was no record of the bike’s registration number. It was a blind case for us and hence challenging. But we took the help of the woman while preparing sketches of the two, referring to over 100 photographs of suspects,” he said.
Police, he said, circulated the posters of the sketches in and around the Kandra locality right down to the panchayat and village level. Finally, the duo was nabbed on Monday morning.
Kalindi and Behera are residents of Supudera in Parsudih, about 20km from the spot where the crime was committed.
Arshi said after the duo was caught they interrogated them at Kandra thana where they confessed to their crime. He two were then arrested and sent to Seraikela divisional jail after being presented before a judicial magistrate.